Acts 16:16–36

Paul and Silas in Jail

¹⁶Once, while we were going to the place for prayer, a servant girl met us. She had a special spirit ⁿ in her, and she earned a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes. ¹⁷This girl followed Paul and us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God. They are telling you how you can be saved.”

¹⁸She kept this up for many days. This bothered Paul, so he turned and said to the spirit, “By the power of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her!” Immediately, the spirit came out.

¹⁹When the owners of the servant girl saw this, they knew that now they could not use her to make money. So they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the city rulers in the marketplace. ²⁰They brought Paul and Silas to the Roman rulers and said, “These men are Jews and are making trouble in our city. ²¹They are teaching things that are not right for us as Romans to do.”

²²The crowd joined the attack against them. The Roman officers tore the clothes of Paul and Silas and had them beaten with rods. ²³Then Paul and Silas were thrown into jail, and the jailer was ordered to guard them carefully. ²⁴When he heard this order, he put them far inside the jail and pinned their feet down between large blocks of wood.

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God as the other prisoners listened. ²⁶Suddenly, there was a strong earthquake that shook the foundation of the jail. Then all the doors of the jail broke open, and all the prisoners were freed from their chains. ²⁷The jailer woke up and saw that the jail doors were open. Thinking that the prisoners had already escaped, he got his sword and was about to kill himself. ^{n 28}But Paul shouted, “Don’t hurt yourself! We are all here.”

²⁹The jailer told someone to bring a light. Then he ran inside and, shaking with fear, fell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰He brought them outside and said, “Men, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They said to him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved—you and all the people in your house.” ³²So Paul and Silas told the message of the Lord to the jailer and all the people in his house. ³³At that hour of the night the jailer took Paul and Silas and washed their wounds. Then he and all his people were baptized immediately. ³⁴After this the jailer took Paul and Silas home and gave them food. He and his family were very happy because they now believed in God.

³⁵The next morning, the Roman officers sent the police to tell the jailer, “Let these men go free.”

³⁶The jailer said to Paul, “The officers have sent an order to let you go free. You can leave now. Go in peace.”